APC says President is responsible for members’ deaths

monjola sotubo

March 12, 2015 12:23 PM

The opposition party stated that the ultimate responsibility for the killings in Rivers lies on the President because he refused to address it.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has blamed the recent deaths of some of its members in Rivers State on President Goodluck Jonathan.

The APC also alleged that its members were being targeted by a killer squad due to the proximity of the general elections.

“It is difficult to see these attacks as a mere happenstance, against the backdrop of the ceaseless attacks on APC members and supporters in the Okrika council area of the state, where the opposition has been the victim of at least three bomb attacks, and the hate messages being purveyed by the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, who hails from Okrika,” APC National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed said in a statement on Wednesday, March 11.

”We know that because they have no answer to the runaway popularity of our party in the state, they are ready to do anything possible to prevent free, fair and peaceful elections there on March 28th and April 11th. By targeting opposition members and supporters, as well as their families, the anarchists will be hoping to trigger chaos and truncate the elections in the state,” he added.

“This is their plan, hence we are calling on the security agencies to act fast to fish out the killers in Rivers before they decimate the ranks of the opposition and scuttle the elections,” Mohammed said.

He also stated that the responsibility for the killings lies squarely on Jonathan’s shoulders especially due to his constitutional role of ensuring the security and welfare of the citizens.

”A President who has said, severally, that his ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian must not keep quiet when innocent opposition members are being bombed, shot at or hacked anywhere in the country, and more particularly in a state where he has inserted himself in a needless political crisis,” Mohammed said.

The APC however urged its members to remain calm and not carry out retaliatory attacks against members of the ruling party.

monjola sotubo